Draper Recreation Hosts Annual Children’s Arts and Crafts
Aug 01, 2016 08:24AM ● By Kelly Cannon
Kids make flowers out of craft materials at the Day Barn. —Draper City
By Kelly Cannon | [email protected]
Draper, Utah - On Tuesdays at the Day Barn Indoor Pavilion, dozens of little kids work their way around a pattern using small safety scissors. Concentrating hard, the kids cut out paper hair and eyes to glue onto jungle animals. After their project is done, they store their latest craft inside a cloth tote, also decorated by them using magic markers. The kids are then ready for their next project.
These Arts and Crafts in the Day Barn activities have been going on for the past five or six years and are put on by the Draper Recreation Department.
“They started when the Recreation Department started,” Layne Jenkins, the recreation coordinator for Draper City and the instructor for the projects, said.
The Arts and Crafts in the Day Barn started like many of the Recreation Department summer activities, namely to help give kids something to do when they’re not in school.
“The idea is to give the youth an activity outside and keep them active and away from the TV,” Jenkins said.
The Tuesday projects started on June 21 and continued for six weeks. The kids could pick from three sessions: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Parents were welcome to stay and help or they could pick the children up at the end of the session. Because the projects could get a little messy, children were encouraged to wear clothes that parents wouldn’t mind if they got ruined.
The kids were ages 4 to 6 years old. The art projects included elements like sand art, paint and plaster, coloring, stickers and painted word puzzles. The $35 registration fee helped pay for the supplies, as well as the instruction.
Jenkins said the classes have been pretty popular with Draper residents and their kids.
“We have three classes each Tuesday with about 12 kids,” Jenkins said. “We also have kids on the waiting list.”
Jenkins said he hoped the kids learn about creativity by being a part of the Arts and Crafts in the Day Barn.
“I hope they learn to be creative and to think outside the box and have fun,” Jenkins said.
To learn more about Arts and Crafts in the Barn and about the other activities offered by Draper City Recreation Department, visit draper.ut.us.
